The dialectics of sustainable building

• Dialectics of sustainable building (SB) are multifaceted and interwoven.
• Systems thinking helps to recognize SB dialectics in concept, methodology and value.
• Strategies that synergize or synthesize system elements help manage the dialectics.
• Solutions to delivering SBs need to be customised to address specific dialectics.

Dialectics exist between economic development, environmental protection and social needs during the urbanization process. However, such dialectics have seldom been explored at the building level. Dialectics of sustainable building (SB) denote the interdependence among the elements of the complex socio-technical SB systems. This paper aims to examine the dialectics of SB drawing on the dialectical systems theory. The research was carried out through case study with three real-life SB projects in China which has witnessed a rapid urbanization process and also set ambitious targets of promoting SB. Multi-faceted and interwoven dialectics of SB were observed in the concept, methodology and value dimensions. Systems thinking was found to help to recognize the dialectics. Strategies that could synergize or synthesize the elements of the dialectical systems of SB were effective for managing the dialectics. The SBs studied were considered to be complex socio-technical systems embedded in their social, political and geographic contexts, which led to varied articulations of the dialectics of SB. The findings contribute a contextual factor to the dialectical systems approach that solutions to delivering SBs need to be customised in order to best address the specific dialectics.